Pokemon Virtual Reality
by Stormyblaze
Summary: It all started as a game...and then quickly escalated into a nightmare. Trapped inside the newest Pokemon game, Crystal will have to work hard if she wants to survive. However, nothing is ever that easy and she might just have to prove herself worthy in order to save those she has come to love in this virtual reality. Pokespe cast, ships inside.
1. Chapter 1 - Welcome to PVR!

**Okay, so this's my first story in the Pokemon side of fanfiction and a few things might be wrong here and there so just...ignore those little mistakes if you come across them, 'kay? :)**

**Anyways, this fanfiction is based upon the concept of SAO (Sword Art Online) and Nuzlockes just it has to do with the Pokespe charries. Everyone will also be wearing their normal clothes, just saying.**

**Shippings will include: MangaQuest, slight Chosen, Oldrival, Special, Frantic, Commoner, and Agency. Be warned that all characters won't show up all at once during the story so not all shippings will be present throughout this fanfiction. Just, be warned :D**

**Chapter 1 - Welcome to PVR!**

Crystal was ready.

She had just recieved the latest copy of the game everyone was talking and raving about; Pokemon Virtual Reality MMORPG or simply, PVR. Apparently, it was a new type of video game made with highly scientific technology so that anyone who wanted to play it would end up in "another world" called the PokeRealm. Basically, it was just a virtual world where one could actually feel and experience the true world of Pokemon instead of just staring at the screens of hand-held devices.

The blue-haired girl glanced over at the list containing items she would need to be able to play the game. Game? Check. Virtual reality headset? Check. Plugged in? Check. Now, all she needed to do was place the headset on her head and turn it on to activate the game.

She bit her lip, hesitating. Even though the reviews had promised that it was easy to navigate through the PokeRealm, Crystal couldn't help but feel she should check over the guide one more time before she walked into the virtual world.

Flipping through the pages of the booklet, she sighed before giving into her desires. After placing a note on the door that read "playing PVR, don't disturb", Crystal sat on her bed and, leaning against the wall of her room, placed the headset on.

Sliding the little black "glasses" over her eyes and taking out the microphone, she flipped the switch for on. A blue screen appeared into view along with the words "close your eyes and relax".

Crystal obeyed, letting her eyes shut before another screen appeared in her mind, this time asking for username and password. She mentally entered them in and waited patiently as an hourglass popped into view.

Seconds later, Crystal arrived in the area known in the Pokemon world as Pallet Town. She was standing in the middle of the huge town, and had apparently been teleported into a weird gazebo-like structure with a Pokeball symbol carved onto the middle._ This must be what's called the Teleporter,_ Crystal decided with a slight smile.

Other players began appear around her in a flash of white, looking either in awe or confusion at the place they had been transported to. Crystal assumed the latter crowd had clearly not seen the posted pictures of the game.

Crystal blinked and realized that she shouldn't dawdle if she wanted to start her journey as a trainer as quick as possible. Or rather, _capturer_. She grinned. She'd been awaiting the moment where she could travel throughout the five, soon to be six, regions of PVR and capture all the Pokemon available**.**

She glanced around the sides of the gazebo to see if she could find the lab where all players could recieve their first starters. Too bad she didn't have the town map yet or otherwise it'd be easy to navigate through this new and improved Pallet Town.

The blue-haired girl wandered away from the gazebo and gazed around. Many players all seemed as lost as she was, strolling aimlessly through the concrete paths. She frowned. This place _certainly_ wasn't like the game's Pallet Town. Instead of just four buildings, there were about twenty-five. It was odd that the game creators would do something like that but the girl assumed it had something to do with a future surprise that the Pokemon Company had planned.

Suddenly, she was pushed forward as someone abruptly slammed into her. Scowling, she looked up to see a golden-eyed boy standing over her, looking somewhat sheepish as he offered her a hand.

"Need help, pigtailed gal?"

Crystal frowned at the nickname but accepted his hand anyways, getting back to her feet. The newcomer grinned.

"So your username's Kris the Capturer?" he asked her, looking mildly curious. "I've heard of you before."

She blinked at his words before realizing he had read the username tag that hovered over her head. Crystal scowled as she took in the second sentence he had spoken. "You know my namehow?"

He grinned. "Easy, it's all over the Pokeforums on the internet. Kris the legendary Pokemon capturer, said to be able to catch any Pokemon on the hand-held games!"

_How the hell..._

"My name's Gold, by the way," he held out a hand.

Crystal glanced up at his username and noticed it read _Awesomesauce102_, not Gold. She couldn't help but snicker at the name, earning her a puzzled expression from the boy. "According to your username, it's not."

The boy scowled and retracted his hand. "Whatever," he glanced around and returned his attention to her. "Hey, Kris, do you know where we get our first Pokemon from?"

"Didn't you read the manuel?"

"Nope."

Crystal let out an exaggerated sigh. "It's in the Professor's lab, which is somewhere in this city of a town."

Gold tapped his chin thoughtfully before making an 'o' with his mouth. He turned to her and waved. "Gotta go get a Pokemon Pigtailed Girl, but see ya later!"

"Hey, wait!" the girl called after him just as he disappeared from sight.

"Oh, dear, boyfriend troubles?" someone snickered.

Crystal spun around to face a brunette girl about a year older then her. Blue eyes gleamed mischieviously as the girl placed a hand on Crystal's shoulder, smiling slyly. "Did your little boyfriend just walk out on you?"

She narrowed her eyes and read the username tag. "Well, MissBlues, I think you've made a mistake. I don't have a boyfriend."

_MissBlues_ smirked and waved a hand. "Uh-huh, sure. And I'm the strongest trainer ever even though I have no Pokemon."

Crystal sighed. "Whatever. Hey, do you know where to find the Professor's lab?"

The strange girl yawned. "Sure honey. It's down that way," _MissBlues_ pointed to a huge building just southeast of Crystal. "Now, I must go and search for my little brother," she did a mocking bow before running off.

_I wonder who she is..._Crystal didn't bother to ponder the question and instead headed in the direction of the building. Upon arriving at the entrance, she found many online players already gathered, standing in a line to recieve their Pokemon starter. Already, many trainers were walking out with one of the sixteen **avalible** starters.

"Cool, a Pikachu!" a blonde girl exclaimed, hugging her new starter in her arms. "I'm going to name you Chuchu!"

"_Pika,_" the mouse chirped loudly in response, shocking both Crystal and the blonde, snuggling close to her chest.

_So Pokemon can apparently talk and interact with us,_ Crystal thought in awe, the longing to get her own Pokemon growing swiftly. She joined the back of the line, gazing almost enviously as multiple players grabbed their own starter, snuggling close to their virtual companions.

Surprisingly, the line moved quickly. All one had to do was tap the Pokeball of their choice andthey had their Pokemon sitting in their arms. The blue-haired girl spotted a red-headed boy walk away with a Totodile, and watched as he gave everyone around him a cold glare. _He seems rude..._

Soon, it was her turn to choose. She hovered in front of the many options. She could choose from Squirtle, to Cyndaquil, to Treeko, to Piplup, to Snivy; there were just that many options. Crystal frowned, too tempted to choose just one, when the impatient groans of the line behind her helped to make up her decision.

"I pick you," she murmured, pressing the little Pokeball saying _Chikorita_ on it.

Instantly, a green creature leaped into her arms, nuzzling Crystal affectionately. The virtual creature cooed gently, the leaf atop its head spinning wildly. Crystal smiled at it. "For a virtual animal, you sure act real," she murmured just as a Pokeball popped into existence and into the Chikorita's mouth.

"_Chika?_" it chirped in question as Crystal took the Pokeball, pocketing it. "_Chika, Chik._"

"But what to name you...," she tapped her chin thoughtfully as she exited the lab. "Hmm, how 'bout Megapeon? It fits my naming scheme, after all, having part of the Pokemon's name and the word peon on the end of it."

Megapeon nodded in agreement, its leaf swinging back and forth. The Chikorita cooed again before suddenly tensing. "_Chick!_" it cried out.

"What's wrong?" Crystal asked, before seeing flames erupt from nowhere.

Suddenly, a crowd of people pushed past her, murmuring eagerly about something as they disappeared around the corner where the flames had appeared. More and more players ran over to the area, and Crystal began to become curious about what could possibly happening. Moving swiftly, the girl made her way over to where a battle seemed to be occuring.

Two boys stood in the middle of the town, right beside the Teleporter, each with one Pokemon standing in front of them; a Cyndaquil and Totodile. The two creatures were attacking eachother furiously, claws and fangs scraping eachother's skin as they battled. She recognized both of them as the boy that had had the Totodile and the other as Gold.

"Scratch!" the red-headed boy called out.

His Totodile obeyed, running forward and slashing the Gold's Cyndaquil. With a cry of agony, the fire-type scrambled backwards, sniffling.

"Don't give in, Explotaro!" the spiky-haired boy shouted. "Tackle!"

The Cyndaquil straightened up a bit before slamming into Totodile, the flames on its back flaring brightly. Crystal cound feel herself in awe of the two creatures, watching as they battled quite fiercely and realistically for vitual Pokemon.

"Scratch!"

"Tackle!"

Both Pokemon unleashed their individual moves upon eachother. They wrestled with eachother on the dirt paths, neither side giving in as they fought for their owners. Explotaro shuffled backwards, about to land another Tackle, when a Servine appeared from nowhere and knocked the Pokemon aside with its tail. Next to it, a robed figure appeared, a hood masking the face of the person.

"Stop!" the figure cried out in a feminine voice, making Crystal assume the person was a girl.

Both trainers looked at her in shock, baffled by her sudden appearance and the lack of a username. The girl's Servine hissed gently before glaring at the crowd, red eyes narrowing as it swung its head back and forth.

Robed girl frowned at the two boys. "If you continue this battle, you'll only kill yourselves," the girl snapped at them. "Withdraw your Pokemon right now or you might put yourselves in danger!"

They both stared at her hesitantly. The red-headed boy narrowed his silver eyes at the stranger, but returned his Totodile without a word of protest. Gold, however, kept Explotaro out, seemingly stubborn to obey her commands.

"What do you mean, kill ourselves?" he questioned her, narrowing golden eyes.

Her head turned towards her and a frown was just barely visible beneath her hood. It seemed that she was almost disappointed by his answer. "I...can't say, it's...not something you'd want to know. At least, not yet."

With a sigh, she withdrew her own Pokemon and turned to them. Showing no more hint of emotion, she raised a hand, took a breath, and vanished into thin air without warning, leaving everyone perplexed as she left them on a cliffhanger.

Crystal herself felt puzzled by the girl's words. Why had she interfered with the boy's battle? It wasn't like they were breaking any rules (well, not any that Crystal knew). The blue-haired girl placed her chin in a cupped hand, wondering what the stranger possibly knew that she herself didn't. And why did she have no username? Didn't all players display usernames above their heads? Did that mean the robed figure was an NPC?

The boy known as Gold rolled his eyes as the stranger disappeared before turning to his previous opponent. "So, Silver, wanna battle again sometime when we're not...inturrupted?"

_So he's not going to even listen to the girl's words? _Crystal stared at Gold in surprise, a bit irritated at his lack of sense.

Silver glanced over to him, running a black-gloved hand through his red hair. "Not right now, not when something fishy is going on."

Everyone stared at him, confused and yet wondering what he had meant. Silver turned his back on Gold and disappeared into the crowd, leaving the boy alone to ponder his words. With a sigh of defeat, the black-haired boy shrugged and walked off, not seeming to care too much about what the girl or Silver had to say.

_Well that was...interesting, to say the least._

"Hey, Kris!" a familiar yet annoying voice called.

"Yes, Gold?"

"Did you see my awesome performance?"

"If you mean Pokemon battle, then yes."

"Wasn't Explotaro just the best?" he grinned at her, namesake eyes flashing as he hugged his Cyndaquil.

"Hmm, sure, but it seemed like your opponent's Totodile was eqully as strong."

He pouted. "Aw, come on, can't you at least admit you were impressed?"

"I'll be impressed when you take down Arceus," she sighed.

Gold tipped his head at that. "Does Arceus even exist in this game?"

She shrugged. "Probably, since the game designers programmed all the regions into here. Although, you'd have to travel all the way over to Spear Pillar with the Azure Flute item, which probably doesn't even exist at this point in time..."

"Woah, are you like a walking wiki or something? Maybe an NPC?"

Crystal gritted her teeth at the last comment. "Obviously not if I have a nametag without the word NPC in it."

He frowned. "Oh, right. Well...that's disappointing."

"What do you mean by that!?"

"Well, you know, it's abnormal to come across someone who is as much as a geek as you in real life, thus the whole NPC thing..."

She rolled her eyes and held Megapeon tightly. "Whatever, I'm going to Route One to train."

Gold opened his mouth to protest but she already had her back turned on him. Crystal walked over to the exit of Pallet, which wasn't much. Just like in the games, a forest formed on two sides, packed in tight clumps, made up the tall entrance that could only fit two people width-wise. Nothing else seemed abnormal here, except for the two lines of pale green grass that didn't match its surroundings. Crystal assumed that this was where Professor Oak showed up whenever you stepped onto the grass to give a player their starter.

"Screw the rules, I wanna see what happens when you go into the grass without Pokemon!" a kid with spiky black hair nearby shouted, leaping headfirst into the two patches before Crystal could stop him.

"Wait!" she cried out, even though it was too late.

Then, like in some sort of movie, the boy hung frozen in midair before blinking out of view. Another kid, probably the first kid's companion, gasped loudly before turning to Crystal. "What happened to Bronze?" she demanded quite loudly.

Finding no way to answer at the strange occurrence, she shrugged and glanced at the two lines of grass, wondering what had made the boy disappear. Crystal took cautious steps forward, and Megapeon burst out of her arms, the green leaf on her head spinning wildly. The girl gasped at the sight of the Pokemon but not before remembering her companion. "BRONZE!" she called quite loudly.

"Here," the same kid from before muttered, emerging from the road that led back into Pallet Town. "Geez, do you have to be so _loud_, Quartz?"

"Idiot!" the blue-haired girl shouted to her companion, slapping him hard on the back of his hand. "Do you have to be so reckless every _damn_ time!?"

The kid called Bronze scowled. "Whatever," he muttered before turning to Crystal. "Hey, you! Do you know where to get our starters?"

Crystal blinked. "Over in the Professor's Lab," she answered cheerfully.

Quartz nodded and grabbed her companion's hand, beginning to drag him over to the mass of buildings with a frustrated look on her face. "Seriously, brother, did you have to do that?" she asked him furiously.

Bronze scowled but Crystal wasn't able to catch his reply as they went out of sight. Sweat-dropping, the blue-haired girl made her way to the grass, Megapeon chirping quietly beside her.

The first Pokemon she encountered was a Natu.

Crowing rather loudly, the bird Pokemon hopped up and down on one foot, looking rather happy as it faced Crystal. Megapeon responded with a growl, her leaf swishing back and forth. Crystal watched the Natu curiously, reading the little bar above it. _A male Natu at level four on Route One? Isn't it impossible to get a Natu in the Kanto region?_ she glanced down at Megapeon._ Then again, if I own a Chikorita I guess the normal rules of gameplay don't matter here._

A white screen popped up in front of her, showing the four normal controls of Fight, Bag, Pokemon, and Run. Seeing as she had no Pokeballs, Crystal reluctantly hit Run, forcing the bird to disappear from sight.

She continued forward, seeing a few fellow players here and there. Along her way to Viridian City, she noticed Pokemon appear that shouldn't be on Route One. Murkrow, Aipom, Shinx, Pidove, the list went on. Of course, it made Crystal even more determined to find the first Poke Mart that would ultimately lead her to obtaining the first five Pokeballs promised to all players.

Megapeon followed behind her at a lazy pace, occasionally stopping to yawn before running after the blue-haired girl to catch up. Despite being a virtual creation, the Pokemon felt and acted like a real animal, often showing hints of emotion upon tripping over a rock or running head-first into a tree.

Crystal found herself about halfway through Route One when her avatar suddenly froze in place. It was strange, one moment she was moving fine and in the next she was reduced to a figure of rippling static. She was was still aware of everything going around and yet she was unable to lift a finger. Megapeon looked at her with wide eyes, reaching out to touch her but instead just passed through the girl.

"Chika!" she cried in surprise, backing away as she looked at Crystal in confusion. "Chik, chik?"

_This must be how Missingno feels like,_ Crystal mused to herself, a bit worried, as she remained in place.

And then all turned white.

Two seconds later, she was standing in Pallet Town, once again finding herself in the Teleporter. Multiple players flashed into view beside her, each looking as confused as she was.

"Why I'm I here again?" a spiky-haired boy beside her muttered. "I thought I was in Viridian City."

"What's happening!" someone in the crowd cried out.

"Is the game malfunctioning?" another asked rather loudly.

Murmurs of discomfort arose from the rapidly-growing crowd of people. As more and more players teleported into Pallet Town, the sense of panic started to increase. Crystal herself felt anxious and, as she took a look around, she noticed with a start that no Pokemon were in sight. Grabbing Megapeon's Pokeball, she stared at the red cover in shock as she noticed her Chikorita had been absorbed inside.

The blue-haired girl clicked her Pokeball...but nothing happened. Megapeon reached out to place her legs on the roof, scratching at it desperately, but the Pokemon was unable to do anything. Crystal tried clicking again but the Pokeball didn't open. Seeing her fidget with her Pokeball, many other players followed her lead, but were unable to do a thing to release their starters.

"Come on, don't do this Tepig!" a boy whimpered as he pressed the button on the sphere repeatedly.

"Is this a glitch?" someone within the crowd asked to himself as he poked his Pokeball with a finger.

"I don't think so," the spiky-haired boy next to Crystal growled to himself.

Suddenly, Gold popped up in front of Crystal, and the girl had to jump back to avoid bumping into him. He glanced at her sideways before his namesake eyes lit up. "Oh, hey there, Kris!" he waved to her. "What's happening?"

The girl shrugged. "Everyone's being teleported to Pallet Town, maybe for some sort of special event announcement?"

Spiky-haired boy grunted, his green eyes staring at hers as he caught her attention. "That's not possible," he muttered.

"And what makes you so sure of that?" Gold snapped to the brunette.

He glanced at Gold wearily. "Because I'm a-"

_Riiiiiiiinnnnnngggg!_

The sound of a bell cut off the brunette boy and gathered the attention of many players. Many wandered out of the gazebo area and into the fresh air of Pallet Town, gazing up at the sky. Crystal followed their line of sight and was startled to see a robed figure much like the one from earlier hanging in the sky.

"Welcome," a deep voice spoke, booming across the town, "to my realm. I am EHacker, a fellow player that may or may not be among you now and thanks to my genius skills, I have twisted this world to fit my needs. This is no longer just a game, my friends, this is a Pokemon Nuzlocke."

Everyone looked up at the cloaked figure in confusion, tilting their head to one side as they looked around for confirmation on what a "Nuzlocke" was.

EHacker chuckled. "For those who don't know, a Nuzlocke is a hard-core way of playing Pokemon. There are just two basic rules for my version of a Nuzlocke, however, that differ slightly from the real one. Rule one is that all Pokemon die upon "fainting". Rule two is that anyone who loses all their Pokemon will become "black-screened", aka dead. And when you die in here, guess what? You die in real life."

He became silent to let all the information sink into their heads, grinning. Screams erupted from all around Crystal as people panicked, and many began to run away from EHacker...only to be teleported back into the town yet again.

"But that's impossible, that can't happen in a game!" Gold shouted to the figure, fists clenched. Sweat was beginning to drip down his face, despite being within a virtual place.

Spiky-haired boy nodded in agreement to Gold's words, looking quite troubled. "How would one be able to kill another in a game _and_ in the real world?"

EHacker chuckled. "Well, you might be surprised, but your headgear will do all the killing. Being the first of its kind, the headgear, if fixed properly, can kill you in certain situations by sending out a shockwave that'll stop your heart. Oh, and none of your family or friends can help you because it'll be impossible to remove your headgear now since it's kind of attached to your heads. You'll thank me later."

_Wait, does this mean...!?_

"By the way, I forgot to mention but...real-world logic applies here as well. Fall off a tall tower? You're dead. Get hit by a Flamethrower? You suffer burns. Poisonpowder? You're now poisoned. It's as simple as that."

More screams erupted from the crowd and many began to fall to their knees, sobbing loudly as they came to realization at what was happening. Crystal, too, felt wobbly, her eyes burning slightly. They were trapped inside a virtual game and could be killed at any moment. This was _not _good at all.

"Screw this crap!" a familiar voice shouted and a black-haired kid streaked past Crystal and over to the Teleporter, seeming unaffected by the news. "Has anyone forgotten about the Teleporter yet?"

Murmurs of joy rippled through the crowd as they realized Bronze's words held true. There was still hope for them! They all watched eagerly as Bronze stood in the middle of the Pokeball logo on the floor and opened up his menu for the Log Out button. He stayed looking through the menu for a few seconds before narrowing his eyes. "It's not there," he growled.

"What do you mean it's not there!" Quartz shouted, jumping to his side. She opened her own menu and scanned it with her eyes but held the same disappointed look as Bronze. "You're right, it's not...there."

At this, the many players began to try once again to escape but failed in their mission as they were teleported back to the Teleporter again and again. Crystal watched the robed figure numbly as a grin formed from under the hood.

"Now, now, I should've mentioned this earlier but...there's no way to escape until you beat the Kanto League so I suggest you start right now gathering in groups to train and defeat the many gyms located throughout the game.

"Oh, and I added a twist here, but let it be known that every time it turns to night here, Team Rocket NPC's will wander around to challenge any and all trainers. The only way to get rid of them and stop them from attacking you is to create guilds to protect the towns. I recommend you start on that right away. Buh-bye."

A gust of wind rippled through Pallet Town and the robe figure disappeared in the blink of an eye. Many players fled from the area, leaving only the rational or broken people behind. The spiky-haired brunette on Crystal's side stepped forward and sent out his starter, a Charmander. The fire-type glanced up at its owner before nodding and releasing a rather loud snarl that caught everyone's attention within hearing distance.

"Everyone, stop what you're doing and pay attention to me!"

Heads turned to the stranger as everyone stopped in their attempts to flee. Crystal watched in awe as the stranger walked up the first few steps of the Teleporter, his cold gaze capturing the attention of many.

"Listen to me! My name is Green and I am a fellow moderator of this game!"

Shouts of fury and anger arose from the crowd of players upon hearing the word _moderator_. It was well-known that moderators would join the game to make sure that it worked properly and to make sure there were no hackers inside. They were responsible for everything that went on within PVR and, for one to tell their status now in front of a terrified and panicked crowd, was a rather risky action for Green to do.

"Fix this then!" a boy from the crowd shouted loudly.

"Yeah, make it so we can logout and get out of this nightmare!" another growled.

"Yes, I am a moderator and no, I don't know how to fix this. But listen, my grandfather is the creator of this game and he'll surely be looking for a solution to this problem once he sees this happening! But, until then, we're all on our own so I recommend that we all start up a guild dedicated to beating this game!" murmurs of hope arose from some players when they heard that Green was the son of Samuel Oak, the creator of PVR.

He continued on. "Everyone who is able to handle grinding their Pokemon and battling for the sake of everyone else here should come to my side now so that we can keep everyone from dying! I want everyone here to be safe but I can't do this on my own. Who is brave enough to join me?"

"We are!" three voices called.

Crystal watched as the crowd of people parted to let a few players through as they walked over to Green's side. A black-haired boy walked over to Green and gave him a thumbs-up sign while the girl known as _MissyBlues_ stood opposite of him, leaning on Green's shoulder with a playful smile on her face. Silver took the spot next to _MissBlues_, looking rather annoyed as the brunette girl flashed him a grin.

Gold glanced sideways at Crystal. "Hey, are you gonna join them?" he asked her, seeming quite unconcerned with the news EHacker had brought them.

"Me?" she asked, emotion lacking in her voice.

He nodded. "Of course."

"I don't know...I wouldn't be the best at leveling up my Pokemon."

The spiky black-haired boy rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on! You're the legendary Pokemon capturer and you're afraid of _leveling up _your Pokemon? Man, that's pathetic!"

She puffed out her cheeks at his taunt, falling for it and losing all previous thoughts. "Oh, yeah? Then what do you have to show for, Mister I'm-better-then-you?"

He took out Explotaro's Pokeball and spun it on his finger. "Haven't you figured it out yet?"

Crystal blinked. "Figured out what?"

The boy sighed impatiently. "I'm Gold the Pokemon breeder!"

She tipped her head to one side. "Never heard of you."

"Seriously?" he drew back in surprise, eyes widening. "Aw, that's sad," he clucked his tongue to show his disapproval.

"Oh, shut up!" she snapped, stomping over to where other players had gathered around Green and took her place behind Silver, rolling her eyes when she noticed Gold following her.

Two minutes later, the amount of players stepping up to join Green came to a halt, leaving them at a rough estimate of twenty players. Everyone who had wanted to join them had already, leaving all the confused players to stare absent-mindedly at Green's group. Crystal noticed that those who stayed behind either looked lost, without confidence, frightened, or furious, and that no calm or rational person stayed behind in the crowd.

Gold chuckled loudly and Crystal scowled. _Well, we may not have irrational or panicked people but we're unfortunately stuck with _him_, _she stared at the golden-eyed boy, eyes narrowed.

"What?" he asked, noticing her stare. "Can't get enough of me?"

She rolled her light blue eyes and began to pay attention to Green, who was once again speaking out.

"Thank you all for joining me in this complicated mission. I know this is all a shock for everyone to handle at this moment but, for the sakes of everyone else, we _must_ train and try to beat this game. We can't do anything until my grandfather fixes the game, so we might as well try to see this world through. But let me say this now: I do _not_ accept slackers. If you plan to lay around and do nothing, leave now."

He fell silent and stared coldly at all of them, as if he thought his cold gaze would convince everyone of them to give up joining him. However, no one moved. Even the blonde girl who stood on the outskirts of the group refused to move, holding her Pikachu tightly. Crystal stood her ground, holding Megapeon's Pokeball tightly in her hands.

"Good. Now, our first task is to protect the other players and the NPC's of Pallet Town. If EHacker was right, then Team Rocket grunts should start attacking us soon. When that happens, I want all players inside Pallet Town so we can protect everyone from a bitter death. So, until it hits night, I want everyone to pair up and search for any players who have fled from Pallet Town to Route One. Work fast and if you have to then you can use force. Our goal is to _protect _people however, so don't do anything and I repeat, _anything_ to hurt fellow players. When night begins to fall, come back here as soon as you can so we can stop the grunts from entering. Oh, and it might do some good to grind your Pokemon up in levels. You're all dismissed."

"Yes sir!" _MissBlues_ crowed, giggling loudly as she saluted him. "Come on, Silver, let's ride!"

The brunette released a Squirtle and grabbed the red-haired boy beside her, dragging him over to the entrance of Pallet Town. Others followed her lead, grabbing a partner before running over to Route One to round up any panicked players. Soon, everyone was gone from view, and the only ones left were Green, the black-haired boy, Gold, and Crystal.

Green glanced over to the black-haired boy. "Red, do you want to scout out the town with me for any..._surprises_?" he asked.

"Sure," the boy named Red nodded and the two turned their backs to Crystal and Gold as they disappeared from view.

That left Gold and Crystal. Looking over to the blue-haired girl, he beamed. "Hey, Kris, wanna be my-"

"No," she said curtly, walking over to Route One.

"Aw, but Green said we have to work in _pairs_."

"So?"

"That means that we should work together since we're the last ones left. _So_, shouldn't you team up with me?"

"I reject your offer."

"But, but-"

"_No_."

Gold sighed and placed his hands behind his head. Pouting the boy began to follow her as she traveled through the grass. Instantly, two level three Natu appeared, cawing loudly as they faded into view. Megapeon popped out of her Pokeball and stood in front of Crystal protectively while a Cyndaquil joined her.

"Why is there a Cyndaquil beside Megapeon?" Crystal asked, half to herself, before she noticed a little text message saying _Awesomesauce102 and Kris the Capturer have encountered two Natu._

Looking over to Gold, she was surprised to see him in a battle stance, one leg forward, one back, all while narrowing his eyes. The battle menu popped into view and he hit the Battle option. Selecting a move, he looked over to Crystal. "Gonna help?"

"Fine," she growled, hitting Battle and then choosing the option of Tackle and then picking her opponent of the two birds; the female Natu.

The battle began immediately. Megapeon launched herself forward and slammed into the female Natu, making the bird take a critical hit. Snapping her beak, the Natu shuffled forward while her partner cawed in outrage. Explotaro moved next, performing his own Tackle on the female Natu, successfully knocking her out.

"One down, one to go!" Gold shouted, beaming at Crystal.

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

The male Natu used Growl, lowering Megapeon's and Explotaro's attack as they stumbled backwards in shock. Gold did a fist-pump before opening his menu again. He picked Tackle as his move and Crystal followed his choice, picking Tackle as well.

Megapeon moved first again, weakening the enemy into the yellow zone. With a triumphant look on her face, the Chikorita strutted over to stand in front of Crystal, looking at her trainer proudly.

Explotaro launched forward after Megapeon had stopped her attack and rammed into the bird, knocking it out. The bird blinked out of sight.

"Good job buddy," Gold called, picking up the little Pokemon as it squealed in delight.

"You did a great job too," Crystal murmured to her own starter, who beamed in response.

"See, we should work together," Gold said slyly, placing an arm around her.

She pushed it away with a huff. "Come on, we should be scouting for other players, not messing around arguing about partners."

He blinked hopefully. "So, does this mean..."

"Yes. Now hurry up before I regret my **desicison**-" she hesitated, "-partner."

The boy did another fist-pump and placed Explotaro on his shoulder before he gave her a happy look that reminded Crystal of a puppy. Sighing in an exaggerated manner, the girl continued walking through the grass to look for any wandering players.

It was about eight o'clock when the two gave up their search. Everywhere they went on Route One (which was longer than Crystal expected) was either a dead end or Pokemon infested area. After many desperate battles, and a few levels up on their starters, the two decided to head back since it seemed that everyone was already back in Pallet Town.

Now, jogging back into town, they were met by Green. The boy scowled as he noticed they were without any other players and crossed his arms. "I see you weren't able to find anyone but no matter, I'm sure anyone with senses will be able to survive the night. Moving on, I want you to stay on the frontlines and guard Pallet Town from the Rocket grunts. You're Pokemon are at level nine or higher, right?"

Crystal nodded. "Level nine."

"Level eleven, beat that!" Gold grinned at the spiky-haired brunette.

Green snorted. "Whatever. Hurry up, it's almost night and I don't want _any_ grunts to slip through you two. Replacements will be avaliable later but for now, do your best. Retreat only when your Pokemon are about to die. First heal up your Pokemon by NPC and then stand on the frontlines. Understand?" they nodded. "Good, you're dismissed."

He walked away, leaving them to hurry to the nearest healer NPC so they could get their Pokemon healed. Finding one, an old man, they let the character take their Pokeballs and place them inside a small machine one-by-one before returning them to the original owners.

"I didn't know random NPC's could heal Pokemon," Gold muttered as they walked away and over to Route One.

"I think it's a new function placed inside the game," Crystal replied as she released Megapeon.

Gold yawned loudly. "Well, that's cool."

"Yeah, I guess...hey, Gold?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you do...in real-life?"

The boy turned to her, confusion written on his face before the realization of her question dawned on him. "I go to school, and play Pokemon, of course. Why?"

Crystal looked at her feet. "Just curious."

He yawned again. "Ah, well, my life isn't that entertaining. How's yours?"

"Fine," she said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I go to school, babysit kids, go on capturing quests for people in Pokemon. I usually study and when I have free-time I either read or play Pokemon."

They went into silence as they entered Route One, the moon peeking up over the distant mountains. Darkness had fallen upon the virtual world of PVR and even though it was just a game, it oddly all felt real to Crystal. She could feel the wind on her skin, hear the trees rustling ominously, see the the clouds flying across the sky, and she could sense the presence of many Pokemon that wandered freely on Route One.

Gold stood beside her, no longer grinning as he faced the darkness. His hand brushed hers, and she shivered at the touch of his cold hand. They stayed there in the silence, waiting and waiting. Even the light of the full moon couldn't settle their beating hearts as they watched.

Megapeon sat perched on Crystal's shoulder while Explotaro sat on Gold's, her red eyes gleaming in the darkness. The Chikorita shuddered and snuggled closer to Crystal, trying to gain any shard of warmth she could get. In response, the blue-haired girl stroked it, trying to remain calm.

The sound of footsteps and both girl and boy flinched. A black-clad figure with a bright red R printed on the front appeared, followed by a duplicate, each containing red-and-white Pokeballs in their hands.

"Well, well," one sneered, shocking the duo. "Looks like we got some wimps here. One battle should be enough to take them down. What do ya' say?"

"Agreed," the second one chimed, releasing a Rattata while his companion released a Beedrill. "Let's finish this quickly."

Crystal clenched her hands into fists as Megapeon leaped off her shoulder and into battle mode, crimson eyes regarding her opponent carefully.

Gold gritted his teeth. "Let's do this," he murmured to the blue-haired girl, namesake eyes shining in determination.

"Yeah."

**-End of Chapter 1-**

_Pokemon Virtual Reality MMORPG Manuel Guide:_

_Welcome and we hope you enjoy you're new copy of Pokemon Virtual Reality or PVR bought either legally or illegally, although we hope it's the former. Anyways, we have written this guide for your convenience during your playthrough of this game. This guide has been written from fellow beta test players and is sure to help you through your playthrough!_

_Moderators: Moderators are the overseers of the game. They have access to certain privileges that most normal players don't have like cheat codes and can manipulate the game coding to alter the game. Only a few are chosen for this highly-ranked job, either taking up positions as gym-leaders or game supervisors. Well-known examples of moderators are Misty, Green, Brock, etc._

_The Teleporter: The Teleported is a gazebo-like building in the middle of Pallet Town that contains a Pokeball symbol in the middle. This's where players can teleport back and forth from the game and real life, although it doesn't seem like it's working right now..._

_NPC's: Like in the games, there are NPC's in PVR. Although quite annoying, they can help you during your gameplay, giving away free items like Potions, healing up Pokemon, or offering tidbits of advice. They can also battle you too if you look at them, so if you want to avoid a battle avoid eye contact!_

_Avatars: Unlike most Pokemon games, you are unable to obtain avatars that look like Leaf or Lyra or whatever. Instead, you're shown like your normal self from the real-world. Unfortunately, this brings some problems for people who have, say, a malformed body part. The Pokemon company is working on a way to fix this but so far no solution has been found._

**-Author's Note-**

**So, here we are and let me say...we'll be seeing more of four certain characters later (guess who?), everyone mentioned by name will have a part in this story. **

**Moving on, as seen above, there will be little guides that help to understand the story better (based upon the manuel mentioned by Crystal). It just tells about basic things and newly put in functions of PVR and helps you guys to understand what the characters are saying half the time ^^**

**Oh, and review please! It helps to see how others think of my story and what I can improve on.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Guard Duty

**Here's the next chapter guys, sorry for the wait! **

**Honestly though, this chapter didn't go at all like I originally planned. Heck, it got so long that I couldn't get to the spot I had imagined or otherwise it'd be like 16,000 words. But we'll get there in chapter three!**

**Oh, and I hope you like Mangaquest and Specialshipping~**

**Chapter Two – Guard Duty**

"Rattata, Tail Whip!"

The battle leaped to a start as the Rocket grunt's rat Pokemon whipped its tail at Explotaro, causing the Cyndaquil to glow blue as its defense stat lowered. Gold seemed unfazed however as he opened his battle menu and selected a move.

Explotaro burst to life, the flames on its back exploding furiously as it dashed forward and rammed into the Rattata's side, causing the green bar above the opponent's head to decrease slightly.

"Alright, good job!" Gold shouted in encouragement, successfully earning himself two identical glares from the grunts.

Crystal glanced at him in amusement before opening her own menu. Two options were laid out in front of her in two boxes; Tackle and Growl. Going on the offensive, the blue-haired girl picked the first option and then selected Beedrill as her choice of opponent. Three seconds later, the creature was dashing forward and slammed into the huge yellow and black bee.

"_Bzzz!_"the Beedrill hissed, reeling backwards as its arms rose over its head. A single glance at the health bar and Crystal was pleased to see her attack had put it in the yellow zone.

Megapeon stuck out her tongue before leaping to Crystal's side, leaf spinning wildly as she stood once again in front of her trainer. Explotaro copied the Chikorita's actions, the flames on its back still burning brightly in the darkness of the night.

"Tch, lucky hit," the owner of the Beedrill growled. "Use Poison Sting on the Chikorita!"

Placing its arms out in front of it, the large bug shot several purple needles at Megapeon, eyes seeming to gleam sadistically as the little Pokemon cried out in pain, writhing on the ground as the needles jabbed into her skin. Crystal stepped forward, ready to grab the Pokemon and cradle it into her arms for comfort, when she was pushed back by a wall and a message saying "ERROR, you cannot run from a trainer battle!"

Gold gritted his teeth as he noticed Chikorita's health drop into the yellow zone and he quickly opened his menu back up. "Tackle!"

Explotaro snorted and leapt forward to headbutt the Beedrill. The small Pokemon seemed unfazed as he was tossed aside and instead wandered over to Megapeon, pulling out the many needles sticking out of her skin with care. However, the Rocket grunts weren't willing to let him get away with helping an enemy Pokemon.

"Tackle on the Cyndaquil!"

"Poison Sting on Chikorita!"

The Rattata leapt forward baring sharp teeth as he ran into Explotaro, knocking the rodent off Megapeon, smiling maliciously. Shaking his tail, the purple rat nodded to his Pokemon companion to take his turn in battle. Nodding in return, the Beedrill unleashed more needles upon Megapeon, causing Crystal to flinch as she noticed the bar drop dangerously towards what soon might become the red zone.

Gold gritted his teeth as he approached Crystal. "We need to end this quickly," he whispered to her, eyes narrowed. "You're Chikorita will die if this keeps up. Can you focus on taking out the Beedrill for now?"

She nodded and the boy returned to his original spot, frowning before turning to the girl again. "Hurry up and choose you're move or otherwise the turn might end."

"R-Right!" Crystal opened up her menu and picked the option of Tackle.

Megapeon swayed back onto her feet, panting heavily, but managed to pull off the move on Beedrill, successfully lowering the bar to about three hit points. Gold nodded in approval before picking his next move while their opponents did the same.

With a snort, Explotaro threw himself at Beedrill in the form of a Tackle attack, looking quite proud as the creature landed with a loud _thud_ on the ground. Everyone present watched attentively as the bee began to twitch in agony and the Beedrill's owner bit his lip as he awaited his fate.

The bar above the Beedrill's head disappeared and, as it happened, the grunt and his Pokemon began to fade with it. Crystal watched in shock as the bodies flickered and grew transparent, allowing a stray leaf to pass through them on the wind. The scene was hard to watch as the grunt collapsed to ground, black eyes wide in disbelief as he erupted into agonizing shrieks that hurt the girl's ears.

_W-What's going on?_ She wanted to ask Gold, looking in horror as the man disappeared and his shrieks came to a silent halt. _Why did he disappear? Did he...die like EHacker said we would when we lose Pokemon?_ Crystal shuddered in fear at the very thought.

"Crap!" the first Rocket grunt snarled, glaring at his Rattata. "You better win this or we're dead!"

Whimpering, the Rattata began to shake as it realized just what would happen to it if it dared to lose. Tail shaking, the rat looked at the Chikorita and Cyndaquil with fear gleaming in his eyes, all the confidence from earlier lost.

"Use Tackle," Gold commanded in merely a whisper.

Explotaro charged forward and performed the attack on the poor rat, watching as the creature crumpled into a ball of fur before the bar above its head disappeared from view. The last Rocket grunt stared at them in both fear and disbelief before he, too, started screaming in agony, clutching at his head like he'd just been shot in the forehead. Within a few seconds, the grunt was nothing more than air. Crystal stared at the same spot the grunt had been standing before falling to her knees, eyes looking at nothing.

"W-What...just happened?" she choked out.

"I don't know," Gold muttered, holding out his Pokeball to return Explotaro. "But didn't EHacker say we'd die this same way if all our Pokemon fainted?"

She shivered, slowly looking up to meet his golden-eyed gaze. How was he able to look so calm and relaxed after seeing a scene like _that_? It both puzzled and scared the girl as Gold walked over to an NPC to have his Pokemon healed, eyes seeming deep in thought.

Megapeon cautiously approached the girl, chirping quietly as she settled on Crystal's lap, still suffering from the stings of the poisonous needles. The girl picked them out of the Chikorita's skin, trying to ignore the creeping sensation of panic that she was currently wrestling with. Would she, too, succumb to such a fate like the Rocket grunts in this virtual reality? The very thought unsettled her, and she couldn't help the sick feeling that passed through her and made her feel like vomiting.

Gold wandered over to her and released Explotaro. The little mouse stretched out, yawning loudly before curling close to Crystal, the flames on its back flaring brightly so as to give the girl some warmth. Gold held out a hand and Crystal looked up in surprise, puzzled by the action.

"Put Megapeon in her Pokeball so I can heal her," he explained, noticing the expression on her face. "Explotaro will watch you just in case of an ambush."

She nodded and returned Megapeon to her Pokeball before handing it to Gold. The boy said nothing as he walked back over to the NPC and placed the device inside of the gray box the NPC provided. With a quick flash of light, the healing process was over and the Pokeball was returned to Gold. The boy walked back over to Crystal and tossed her the sphere. She caught it with ease.

"Thanks," she murmured, releasing the Chikorita again.

"Chika!" Megapeon chirped happily, looking as bubbly and refreshed as ever as she nuzzled Crystal's leg. "Chik, chik!"

"Cyn," Explotaro growled, tucking his head closer to his back.

Megapeon noticed this and scowled. Approaching the rodent, the Pokemon poked him once, laughing as Explotaro slid away from her touch. With a snicker, the Chikorita curled closed to the creature, seeming to enjoy the warmth flowing off of it.

"Aw, looks like our Pokemon are best friends," Gold said in amusement as he collapsed onto the grassy ground and stretched. "Man, I'm so_ tired!_ That was the most stressful thing of my life, and I've suffered through many, many tests!"

Crystal secretly agreed with him, but didn't have the energy to say so. Instead, she opened her mouth in a yawn.

Gold rolled onto his back. "I hope those two grunts are the only ones we had to face tonight. That was...scary, seeing them disappear like that."

"Disappear like what?"

Both boy and girl jumped to their feet in shock at the new voice, spinning around to face the speaker in case they were Rocket grunts. However, they instead saw three boys and one girl who looked equally as startled as the duo felt.

"Ah, sorry if I scared you," one of the boys with crimson eyes, Red, if Crystal remembered correctly, said sheepishly. "Green sent us out here to help you guys patrol the area since apparently there might be a hoard of Rocket grunts approaching soon."

"Honestly though, it seems peaceful," a blonde haired boy replied with a yawn as a Chimchar jumped onto his head. "Too boring for my tastes."

"You should be glad it's peaceful, Pearl," the third boy apparently known as _Turtwig Boy_ murmured as he held out a hand to return a green creature known as Turtwig to its Pokeball. "Less work for us."

The girl rubbed her palms across her brown dress as a Pikachu popped into view on her shoulders, cheeks sparking. "I'm just glad to see there's no one hurt," Crystal and Gold flinched at her innocent words, remembering the two Rocket grunts.

Red glanced sideways at the girl. "Yeah, seems like everything's alright," he turned to Gold and grinned, giving the boy a thumbs-up sign. "You guys stay here and we'll take the other two sides of the Route, making sure that the upcoming flood doesn't kill you. Literally."

The duo chuckled weakly at his attempt of a joke. Crystal ignored the anxious feeling in her chest and nodded to them. "Okay, we'll stay here and protect the town."

Pearl yawned again and grabbed _Turtwig Boy_'s wrist. "Come on buddy, let's get this show on the road," the blonde boy began to drag his partner over to the left side of the Route, ignoring the amused glances from Red and Gold.

"Well, I guess that means we should leave too, Yellow," Red murmured, hands on the back of his head as he spoke to the blonde girl. "We won't help anyone standing around."

"Right," they dipped their heads to Gold and Crystal before taking off in the opposite direction of Pearl and _Turtwig Boy._

Gold sighed and sat back down, looking up at the stars with a calm expression on his face. He seemed so relaxed and so at peace that Crystal almost wished she could trade places with him for a few seconds just to ease the sickness and horror that was still dwelling inside her.

The boy turned to face her, a childish grin replacing his earlier look of tranquility. "What, can't get enough of me?" he teased.

She puffed out her cheeks and quickly looked away. "I just find it fascinating how ugly your face looks."

"Aw, don't be like that," he pouted before patting a patch of grass beside him. "Come sit with me while we wait."

A bit surprised at the gesture, she reluctantly took a seat beside him. Explotaro and Megapeon (who had slept through the whole visit from Red), both looked up to gaze at their trainers, eyes blurry with sleep. Upon seeing the two together, however, they burst into laughter, chuckling quite loudly.

Gold scowled. "What's gotten into you two all of a sudden?"

"Chika," Megapeon smirked before tossing her leaf into the dirt to write something. The two trainers watched as she began to spell letters into the sand, Explotaro standing nearby so they could make sense of what was written.

"L," Crystal murmured as the first was drawn.

"O," Gold added, puzzled by the Chikorita's knowledge of spelling.

"V," they both said in unison.

"E."

"Love?" Gold whispered to her. "What does she mean?"

Crystal shrugged. "Um, perhaps Megapeon is playing a guessing game of sorts?"

"What guessing game has to do with letters?"

"Hangman?"

"But the word's already spelled for us," Gold pointed out in confusion.

Megapeon sighed impatiently before pointing at both of them and then at the word on the ground. "Chik, CHIK!"

Suddenly it clicked and the two trainers faced each other with embarrassed looks on their faces as they scrambled away from each other. Explotaro and Megapeon burst into more chuckles upon seeing their reaction before happily bounding over to their individual owners, looking quite sly.

"We're not in love," Crystal muttered to her Pokemon as she picked her up. "We're just _partners_ for this whole nightly mission or whatever."

Megapeon rolled her eyes before leaping out of Crystal's grip, sauntering over to Gold. Crimson orbs flashed in the night as the Chikorita snickered loudly before nipping at Gold's hands. "A-Ah!" the boy jumped away from the Pokemon like a scared rabbit.

That made Crystal burst into laughter. Although the whole action wasn't very funny, she couldn't stop herself from laughing, barely able to breathe as everyone present stared at her like she was crazy.

"W-Why are you laughing?" Gold demanded, approaching her with a scowl on his face.

"I'm sorry, but that was funny," she laid down on the grass, stretching before turning her gaze to the night sky. "Ugh, I'm so tired. How long has it been since we started this...this mission or whatever Green assigned us?"

Gold rolled his eyes as she yawned. "About fifteen minutes. Seriously, it's only like nine fifteen, how can you get tired already?"

"Shut up," she muttered sleepily, tempted to close her eyes. "If only it weren't so cold I'd be able to-"

Something light landed on her stomach and the girl scrambled backwards in shock, shrieking loudly. A chuckle and she glared up at Gold, annoyed to see his namesake eyes gleaming down on her in amusement.

"It's just my hoodie, you idiot," the boy said playfully before lying down on the grass beside her.

Crystal picked the object up, realizing it was, indeed, his hoodie. In the pale light of Explotaro's flames, she could make out the different colors of the fabric. The main body of red, black strings that dropped to the ground, and, of course the white pockets that kept any items Gold might have on hand.

"But why give it to me?" she asked, baffled by his gift.

The boy turned his face towards her, frowning. "You're cold, aren't you? Just use my hoodie and go to sleep, I'll keep guard here."

Eyes wide, she hugged the hoodie, a bit thankful for his concern. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes, barely taking note of Megapeon's body pressing close to her as she collapsed into sleep.

-break-

"Man, they weren't kidding! Seriously, how many Rocket grunts are there?"

Crystal awoke to the sound of Gold yelling at the top of his lungs. Rubbing her eyes, she glanced up to see Gold facing two Rocket grunts, gritting his teeth in frustration. Megapeon and Explotaro were in front of him, breathing heavily as they faced the two identical Rattata opponents.

"I assume_ they_ means Red, Pearl, and the others?" she asked half to herself as she stood up, Gold's hoodie sliding to the ground.

The boy spun around and seemed to force a grin onto his face. "'Morning, sleeping beauty," he called. "Seems like you missed the excitement!" He pulled up the Battle menu and picked the options for his Pokemon.

Both Chikorita and Cyndaquil leaped forward to tackle their enemies to the ground, successfully performing a one-hit KO attack on both enemies. The grunts and their Pokemon rippled to signal their ends, and Crystal wrenched her gaze away as their heart-piercing screams ripped the air.

Gold sighed loudly, wiping his forehead before glancing over at the blue-haired girl. Returning Explotaro to his Pokeball and Megapeon to another (which Crystal presumed he _stole_ from her), the boy walked back over to their healing NPC and watched in satisfaction as the old man healed the Pokemon. Taking the Pokeballs from the gray box, he walked over to Crystal and collapsed beside her.

"Jeez, that took forever to do!" the spiky-haired boy fell onto his hoodie, eyes closed. "I'm so tired...it must be one in the morning right now."

Crystal jumped back in shock. "O-One in the morning?" she gasped. "I slept that long?"

"Sure did," Gold replied lazily, digging his face into his hoodie. "And you looked quite pretty, I must say."

She blushed and swiftly took off her shoe. Taking the object in her hands, she threw it at the boy, enjoying his squawk of surprise.

"Are you Edward Cullen or something?" she shouted furiously, snatching Megapeon's Pokeball and her shoe from his hands. "Do you always watch people in their sleep?"

He looked up, his golden eyes holding a somewhat angry glint inside them. "Whatever," he snorted. "I'm going to sleep. Good luck with the grunts."

Like he had inhaled some sort of Sleep Powder, Gold was fast asleep, snoring rather loudly as he rolled onto his side. Crystal's gaze softened a bit at the sight of him sleeping but, remembering his earlier comment, she huffed and released Megapeon. The Chikorita blinked up at Crystal, eyes wide, before smiling slyly and looking over to Gold.

"Don't think that way," she scolded the Chikorita.

"Chik, Chik," Megapeon rolled her eyes.

A cool breeze blowed through her hair and she longed to collapse back into sleep. The stars twinkling up above offered no support as she her eyes began to close.

"Jeez, I can't trust you for one second, can I?"

She snapped awake at Gold's voice. Looking at the boy sheepishly, she caught his amused gaze and puffed out her cheeks. Gold groaned, rubbing his head as he stood up shakily. "That wasn't even one minute," he stared at Crystal. "You had about four hours of sleep and you're _still_ tired?" he huffed in disappointment.

"Shut up!"

The sound of footsteps and one more Rocket grunt emerged, interrupting their little "fight". With a malicious grin plastered onto his face, he approached the girl and boy.

"Now, now, don't fight like little Spearows," the grunt growled. "Just let us kill your Pokemon as quickly and quietly as possible."

"No chance," Gold snapped, quickly rising to his feet. "Explotaro, take 'em down!"

With a toss of his hands, Explotaro burst from his Pokeball, growling as he did a fist-pump. The grunt snorted in disappointment, unleashing a cream feline known as Persian upon them.

"Oh my god," Crystal gasped as she stared at the bar above the creature's head. The Persian was level eighteen. "Gold, this's suicide! We need to leave. _Now._"

He chuckled, earning him a strange look from Crystal. "Haven't you been paying any attention? Look at what level Explotaro is."

Reluctantly, she obeyed, and was shocked to see Explotaro was at level fifteen. "H-How did you...?"

"Gain levels so quickly?" Gold offered with a cheeky grin. "Well, while you were knocked out, turns out Red was right when he said there was a huge group of Rocket grunts heading our way. So, I gained some leveling up on Explotaro here. Though I don't know why he hasn't evolved yet. Oh, and your Pokemon is level fourteen too, just to tell ya'. I used her when you were asleep."

"You did what!?"

Gold looked at her and stuck out his tongue. "You should be grateful, Super Serious Gal," the boy replied arrogantly before turning to his Pokemon. "Use Ember!"

"Cynda!" Explotaro obeyed, unleashing a shower of flames upon the poor Persian, who reeled back and screeched in fury.

"Persian, Fury Swipes," snarled the Rocket grunt.

"Sian!" the cat dived forward and began to scratch at Explotaro with its' claws, forcing the rodent to retreat.

"Don't give in!" Gold shouted, hands clenched into fists. "Ember!"

The Cyndaquil burst to life, back flaring with flames as it released the fire from its mouth, successfully burning the cat. The health bar began to drop and the Rocket grunt backed away in horror, screaming pitifully.

"Damn you, damn it all!" he screeched before disappearing from view along with his Persian.

Crystal felt the same sickness sweep over her again and she felt the sudden compulsion to bend over and vomit. However, she kept herself composed and instead tried breathing in deeply to calm herself. Megapeon glanced up, clearly worried for her trainer's sake. With a chirp, the Chikorita jumped onto her shoulders, the dark leaf spinning on the top of its' head.

"Well," Gold spoke emotionlessly. "That was short."

They lapsed into silence, awaiting their next Rocket guest, hoping and praying that it'd be dawn soon.

-break-

Within a few hours and after a couple more battles, morning had arrived. The sky was painted with purples, pinks, and oranges as the sun peaked over the distant valleys, allowing light to chase out the shadows from the land.

Crystal sighed in relief, holding Megapeon's Pokeball in her hands as she returned the Chikorita. Pocketing the device, she slumped to the ground. "I'm glad everything's over with for tonight," she muttered.

Gold placed his hands on the back of his head, wearing his hoodie again. "Yeah, but I kind of miss watching you sleep."

"Pervert!" she shouted, pondering for a moment whether she should ask Green to kick Gold out of the guild or not.

"Who's a pervert?" a voice asked innocently.

Crystal spun around to see the blonde girl from before staring up at her. The girl, having the username of _ViridianForest22_, tipped her head to one side. "Who's a pervert?" she repeated her question curiously.

Gold stepped forward and grabbed the blonde girl's hand. Kissing it, he smiled at her. "Why hello my princess, from which kingdom do you come from?"

_VirdianForest22 _raised an eyebrow and took her hand away from his grip. "Aren't you cheating on your girlfriend there?" she questioned, glancing over to Crystal.

"You have the wrong idea," he waved his hands wildly to deny her statement, "She's not my girlfriend."

"And he's not my boyfriend," Crystal muttered with a hint of red on her face.

"Hmm, and here I thought you guys were dating," she whispered before shrugging. "That's sad, you two kind of looked cute together, like Cinderella and Prince Charming!" her golden eyes shined in excitement as she clasped her hands together.

"Yellow, there you are!"

Red came running towards them, panting heavily. A Pikachu sat perched on his shoulders, black eyes staring at Crystal curiously before he nuzzled Red's cheek, cooing gently.

"Don't run off on me like that again," Red growled. "What if a Rocket grunt had ambushed you or what if Chuchu had died on you?"

_ViridianForest22_ sighed. "But she didn't," she pointed out with a smile, hugging the yellow mouse.

Red gritted his teeth. "Come on, we're leaving," he turned to Gold and Crystal. "You guys are off work. Dia and Pearl will hold their position so there's really nothing for you guys to do here."

The spiky-haired boy took off, Yellow dragging behind him. Crystal watched them go in amusement as she noticed Red whisper something that made the girl blush red.

"Okay then," Gold stretched his arms out, intertwining fingers before yawning loudly. "Come on Crys, let's go and take this towns' plunder!"

Crystal raised an eyebrow. "Are we pirates now?"

He gave her a cheeky grin. "Psh, of course! Pirates are awesome and fierce which I am…though I don't know about you. Too fragile and serious for something as cool as a pirate."

"Are you implying something?" she asked in a threatening tone.

Gold clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Ah, and so the princess retaliates," he clapped his hands together and tried to strike a dramatic pose. "But now, face to face with her true love, the noble and handsome pirate Gold of the sea, she finds herself wrapped in his arms!"

He approached her, arms outstretched as if he really expected her to leap into his arms. With a snort, Crystal stepped out of reach, smirking as he pouted.

"Ah, can't you be fun even once, Super Serious Gal?"

"Super what?"

He beamed. "Super Serious Gal, of course! It's my new nickname for you and it seems to fit quite well," he closed his eyes and nodded to himself, seeming quite pleased.

"Don't call me that ever again," she growled, beginning to walk down the dirt path that lead to Pallet Town.

The spiky-haired boy began to follow her, trailing behind her like some sort of stalker. Their feet hit the ground in unison, and soon it became hard for the girl to tell whether Gold was still following her or not. With a glance over the shoulder, she saw the boy look away, whistling innocently as he avoided her gaze.

"How long are you going to stalk me?" she asked in an irritable voice.

"Who said I was stalking?" he replied cheekily. "What if I'm just _following_ you?

"Highly unlikely," Crystal snorted before releasing Megapeon. "Do me a favor and watch that idiot back there," she told the Pokemon.

"Chika!" Megapeon saluted her with one of her short legs before leaping onto Crystal's shoulder, head turned towards Gold.

"Aw, you're so serious," the boy whined before walking over to her side. "Try being fun every once and awhile!"

"There's no need, I'm already fun."

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you have any evidence to prove that statement?"

Crystal puffed her cheeks but was at a lost on how to prove her words. Gold, taking advantage of her hesitation, took her wrist and began to drag her back into Pallet Town, grinning from ear to ear.

-break-

Five minutes later, they were both standing in the center of Pallet Town, panting heavily from the amount of running they did just to get there.

"Do...you have to...be such an idiot?" Crystal growled, breaking Gold's grip on her wrist.

Rolling his namesake eyes, Gold shrugged. "I just want to explore this town with you," he winked. "And I promise you'll enjoy our little walk together."

Crystal shuddered in response. "No thanks, I'd rather not go anywhere with strangers."

The spiky-haired boy pouted. "B-But Crys, you know me, we're like best friends!" he whined, tugging at her hand yet again.

She shook it away. "No we're not," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "I only met you yesterday and, last time I checked, hanging out with a person for only one day doesn't automatically make them your best friend."

"Aw, come on, let's just be-"

"Absolutely not," she sniffed, walking away from him. "I'd rather hang out with Silver than a crazy pervert like you."

He looked hurt at the mention of _Silver_, but hurried over to her and casually slung an arm around her, ignoring her glare that clearly asked _do you have a death wish with me? _Crystal tried to pull away but found that she was unable to, due to his persistent grip.

"Will you get off of me?" she growled, shoving him harshly.

"Nah, I like this pose better," he smiled knowingly, as if he could sense her discomfort. He leaned forward, his breath tickling her ears. "Besides, this makes us look like an official couple."

Suddenly growing aware of the stares of many passer-byers, Crystal's face grew red and she pushed Gold away, successfully making him unwind his arm from around her. Looking quite disappointed, the boy scowled and walked side-by-side with her, grinning quite lazily.

"Fine, if you won't accept me as your boyfriend, I'll make sure you fall in love with me," he put a hand on his chest, beaming at her cockily. "After all, who can say no to mwah?"

Crystal raised her hand. "I say no," she responded with a smug smile. "After all, why would I fall to some pervert who watches people in their sleep like Edward Cullen?"

"Stop with the Twilight references!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air. "I didn't _watch_ you sleep, I just happened to_ notice_ you while you were sleeping."

"Yeah you noticed after _watching _me," she replied icily, gaining speed.

He easily caught up with her. _Damn his long legs,_ Crystal cursed mentally, ignoring Megapeon's protests for her to slow down. The blue-haired girl tried to move as fast as she could while still walking (well, at this point in time, it was more like running), but Gold always stayed at her side, looking at her defiantly as she tried to outspeed him.

"Stop being a stalker!" she snapped at him.

"Stop being a Super Serious Gal," he replied calmly, jogging lazily beside her.

_Why's he so persistent?_ she asked herself, frustrated. "Do you not know the meaning of _GO AWAY?_" she shouted to him, drawing further attention to themselves.

"I do," the boy yawned. "But I can't simply leave a beautiful girl like yourself alone, Crys-Crys!"

She froze in place, surprising both Gold and the crowd of watchers who had gathered to watch their amusing "lover's spat". "W-What did you just say?" she stuttered.

Gold raised an eyebrow. "I called you a beauty, why, is that a crime?"

"No...just...nevermind," she shook her head. "I thought you said-"

"HEEEEEY KRIIIIIIISSSSSS!"

"Oh god no," Crystal turned around to come face-to-face with _MissBlues_ who was smiling knowingly.

"Ohoho," the girl laughed, holding white gloved hands to her lips. "I see you reunited with your boyfriend, did you guys make up already?"

Gold stared at her, disbelief etched onto his face. "Who...are you?"

"Didn't Kris tell you?" _MissBlues _rolled her eyes. "I watched you two break up back when you guys first came here."

"Break up? We didn't break up," Gold snorted, waving a dismissive hand.

"Right, right, whatever you say darling. Anyways, Green told me to tell all members that you're to meet at the Teleporter as of right now. Something to do with the parcel or whatever?" she shrugged. "Better hurry up or you might miss the big announcement. Oh, hey is that Yellow and Red? Come here you two!"

_MissBlues_ waved her hands to Red and _Viridianforest22_ who were now walking into view. The two walked over to them, Red with his hands in his pockets and Yellow with a fishing rod slung over her shoulder.

"Guys, we're having a meeting over by the Teleporter so go over there quickly or miss all the fun!" she dashed off without another word, skipping down a gap between two houses, beaming quite happily.

Gold raised an eyebrow. "Well that was..."

"Interesting," Red finished for him.

Yellow twirled her fishing rod in her hands. "But what Blue said sounded important. I wonder what's going on?"

"She said something about a parcel, what could that possibly be about?" Crystal asked, returning Megapeon to her Pokeball.

Gold shrugged. "Guess we're about to find out."

They nodded and took off towards the center of Pallet Town, curious to see what Green had in store for them.

-break-

"Glad to see you guys could make it," Green told the four as they arrived in the center of the town. "We were just about to start."

A large crowd of people that Crystal recognized as fellow guild members swarmed the Teleporter, looking quite anxious as the four players arrived. Their gazes were all placed onto Green, watching as he spoke to the group in a calm and soothing voice.

"Good to know we made it," Red breathed in response before going to the brunette's side. "So what's happening?"

"You'll see," Green replied ominously, the slightest hint of a smile on his lips.

Red stared at him, baffled by the response. But instead of protesting or demanding answers, the boy dipped his head and turned to Crystal, Gold, and Yellow. "Seems like Green has some big plans in mind," the boy murmured before disappearing into the crowd of people.

"But just _what_ does he have in mind?" Yellow asked, half to herself before following Red and leaving Gold and Crystal alone.

The spiky-haired boy glanced over at Crystal, grinning. "I hope it's something fun and dangerous!"

"Don't you mean safe?" she replied with a scowl.

"Nah, being safe sucks," Gold rolled his eyes. "It's way more fun to get hurt!"

"Are you some sort of insane sadist or something?"

He pouted. "That's not what I meant! It's just that there's no gain if you can't have any pain."

"There's also no gain if you fall off a cliff and die," she pointed out smugly.

"Whatever, looks like Green's about to start his little speech."

Crystal glanced up at the Teleporter and saw that Gold was right. The spiky-haired brunette was standing at the steps, a red dragon-like creature known as Charmeleon at his side. _How the heck did he manage to evolve his Pokemon?_ she wanted to shout, jealous of Green's awesome creature.

Gold seemed in awe too. "Wow, that's so cool! How'd he manage to get his Charmander into a Charmeleon so fast?"

Their guild leader cleared his throat and everyone fell silent, eager to hear his words. "Greetings fellow guild members, I'm sure by now that you're all curious as to what my announcement is. Well, it's not that hard to guess. We need to move to Viridian City today and quickly so that we can deliver the package and receive our five Pokeballs in time. This means we'll need to move quickly or aka now if we want to have our full Pokemon teams in time."

Everyone turned their heads to the people around them, whispering excitedly as they imagined the idea of owning a full team of Pokemon. The whole idea was even making Crystal buzz with energy, and suddenly she couldn't wait to get to Viridian City, even if they'd have to make the long trek there on foot.

Green clapped his hands and they all turned back to him. "I'm glad that's settled. Now, does anyone have any questions before we leave?"

Someone's stomach growled and a boy raised his hand. "Err...I have a question."

"Yes?"

"Where do we get breakfast?"

They broke into laughter at the strange question while Green merely raised an eyebrow before sighing loudly. "There's a cafe somewhere in this town, go and get breakfast there," he replied and then swept his gaze over the crowd. "Anyone else who's hungry can join him but try to meet back here in thirty minutes or we'll leave without you."

Everyone nodded to their leader before quickly rushing off to look for this rumored cafe, stomachs rumbling every once and awhile at the thought of food. Crystal's own stomach called out in hunger and she looked at Gold, embarrassed.

"Sounds like Super Serious Gal is in some desperate need of food," the boy remarked with a sly smile. "So, would you mind going to breakfast with me?"

"Um, sure?"

"Great, it's a date!" the boy did a fist-pump into the air and began dragging her towards where the crowd had disappeared.

Crystal had no time to protest as Gold turned a sharp corner, nearly slamming her into a wall. Reacting swiftly, she reeled back just in time to avoid contact with the inanimate object, glaring daggers at the boy who was "escorting" her.

They turned around many more corners but luckily Crystal was able to avoid crashing into them. Getting a bit ticked off at the boy, she considered yelling at him, but stopped herself just as Gold came to a halt right in front of a huge building.

"Wow, look at this place!" Gold exclaimed. "It seems so fancy!"

Glancing up at the building, she noticed that he was right. The cafe was decorated in what looked like expensive silk ribbons, purple items that seemed to create a cool and calm mood as multiple people walked in and out, well-fed Pokemon perched on their owner's shoulders. Red letters spelled out the words PokeCafe, presumably the name for the building. A waiter NPC stood outside, his black eyes looking at the duo amiably as the two approached the entrance.

"Welcome to the PokeCafe!" the NPC said with a smile, "We offer various food items and beverages that are sure to make your mouth water! Today's special item is French toast with a glass of Moomoo milk for only five-hundred Pokedollars! We can order it for you now, if you like!"

Gold placed his hands in his hoodie pocket, grinning at Crystal. "Want one?"

"Sure."

"We'll take two of the special, Waiter Dude," the boy told the NPC.

"Great, I'll escort you to your table," newly-named Waiter Dude replied cheerfully, walking them over to a booth located next to a large window that faced the forest of Pallet Town. "Your meals will be coming in about five minutes," he told them.

They nodded and Waiter Dude took off to help the next customer. Crystal took this time to look around at the other people who sat inside the cafe, all ranging from the ages of about ten all the way up to the twenties. _Strange,_ she thought,_ how there's no adults or little kids running around. Everyone here seems to be made up of teens._

"Man, I'm so hungry!" Gold complained suddenly, stretching his arms before settling his golden eyes on her. "We haven't eaten anything since we first came here, have we?"

"Not at all," she agreed.

The boy pouted and placed his head on the table, ignoring the complaints of his stomach. "I'm so tired!" he whined, the dark circles under his eyes evident of that. Gold glared enviously at Crystal.

"I'm tired too, you know," the blue-haired girl huffed.

"But you got like six hours of sleep!" he protested. "I got none while protecting you, miss Sleeping Beauty!"

"Sleeping what!?"

"Sleeping Beauty," he drawled, a lazy smirk curling onto his face. "Why, what's wrong with calling you that?"

"It's stupid," Crystal snorted, flicking her hair.

Gold shrugged, eyes shutting before swiftly flickering open only to close again. Open, close, open, close. It was almost like a non-ending cycle. Finally, his head dropped on the table and he began to snore, a thin trail of drool sliding down from his mouth. Crystal watched him for a few seconds, her gaze softening. _Gold looks so peaceful...I wish I could be that way._

"Here's your order miss," Waiter Dude popped into view and set down two plates of french toast in front of Crystal and Gold.

"Ah, thank you," Crystal murmured.

The NPC dipped his head. "The Moomoo milk is on its way," he turned to Gold. "Is your boyfriend sleeping here?" he asked her, amused.

"He's not my boyfriend!" she shouted, gaining everyone's attention.

"Sure he's not," the waiter chuckled before gliding away to serve the next customer.

Crystal watched him go with narrowed eyes, ignoring all of the attention she was gaining as she reached over to poke Gold.

"I don't wanna get up mom," he mumbled, burying his head into his arms.

"It's me, Gold!" she snapped and the boy immediately jumped to attention.

"W-Whoa, Crys! Why'd you have to wake me up from my super awesome dream?"

She rose an eyebrow in disbelief. "What dream?"

"The one where you and I get married, of course!"

"Do you want me to _kill_ you?" she hissed between clenched teeth before shoving a loaf of french toast into her mouth.

He wiped his mouth and rolled his eyes at her. "Jeez, chillax Super Serious Gal, what'd I do to upset you!"

"You know what!"

Gold smirked. "Aw, what's wrong? Flustered because you still have to plan for our special day?"

"That's not it at all!" she shouted, and some people among the crowd scowled at her.

"Finish your lover's spat and let us eat in peace!" some customer called before snickering loudly.

Crystal's face heated up at the comment and she hastily looked away from Gold, awkwardly shoving down more loaves of toast down her throat. The boy continued with his meal to, falling silent as he recognized the blue-haired girl's embarrassment. _But he's probably all smug about it!_ the girl thought in frustration.

Once they had finished their meals, two glasses of Moomoo milk were provided by the Waiter Dude. The NPC, upon noticing the duo's silent tension, quietly placed down the bill and left them alone, muttering something about "dates" and "boyfriends". Crystal took one of the glasses and slowly began to sip from it.

"Gah, you're killing me!" Gold exploded, throwing his arms up into the air in exasperation. "Stop being so serious, Super Serious Gal, and just talk to me!"

"No."

"Yay, I made you talk!" the boy called out childishly and Crystal, in her irritation, turned to glare at him. "Gold, one, Crystal, zero! Booyah!"

"You're acting like a little kid," she replied flatly.

He stuck out his tongue at her. "Who says?"

"Me."

"Your opinion doesn't count."

Crystal, frustrated with the spiky-haired boy's behaviors, took the required amount of Pokedollars out of her wallet and slammed it down on top of the table. With a huff, she stormed out of the cafe without even bothering to check if Gold was behind her.

She shut the door promptly before her and stalked forward, turning a corner, only to find herself face to face with...Silver?

The red-haired boy waved a hand. "Crystal, right?"

She nodded. "That's correct."

Silver sighed and looked over Crystal's shoulders. "Is that fool with you?"

"Who?" she tipped her head to one side.

"Gold," the boy replied impatiently.

"Ah," her eyes hardened. "No, why?"

He glanced around and leaned forward, hands in his coat pocket. "I need to tell you something about this game. But it's something you can't mention around Gold, alright?"

"Al...right?"

"I'm serious," Silver growled. "Do you promise to tell no one? Not even Pearl, Green, Red, or anyone else who you might want to tell?"

"I...promise," she replied softly._ Might as well...Silver seems so eager to tell me this something._

The boy breathed a breath of relief. "Good. Okay, here's the thing...do you remember the hooded figure we saw earlier?"

She frowned, looking quite puzzled, when the sudden image of a girl with a Servine popped into her mind. Crystal looked at Silver. "Yeah, but what about her?"

"Did you ever wonder about how she knew something was wrong before all of us players? I mean, this was before_ anyone_ knew about EHacker's Nuzlooke, right?"

"Right," her eyes suddenly widened and she stared at him, realization dawning upon her. "W-Wait, does this mean...?"

"That's correct," Silver dipped his head. "She might be the clue to figuring everything out and fixing this game. I've been tracking her down, but so far to no avail. It's hopeless to look for someone like that if they're hiding in a crowd of millions. But...that's where you come in."

"What can I do?" she asked him, baffled by his boldness to share this valuble info with her. "I'm only a beginning trainer this game, there's certainly nothing I can provide to help you."

The red-haired boy rolled his eyes. "Crystal, I'm telling you this because I know that you're a valuble pawn in this game and, as insulting as that sounds, I need you to help me out. Crystal, I need you to become a spy for me."

Crystal almost gagged.

"A-A spy!?"

-break-

Meanwhile, a shadow flitted past one of the many buildings located in Pallet Town, her Servine still perched on her shoulder. Eyes gleaming in the shadows of the structures, the hooded figure watched as a girl with blue hair gaped at a red-haired boy, shocked by the explanation of his sudden favor that he required of her.

"Interesting," the hooded figure murmured. "Those two seem to be doing fine despite what situation they're in. For two teenagers, they sure are brave."

"Serv!" her Servine protested.

She laughed lightly. "That's right, I'm brave too," she scratched the Servine's cheek and the creature cooed happily. "But probably not brave enough for this. EHacker has some plans up his sleeve and one can never be too sure what he's going to do next..."

"I'm here."

The two spun around to see another hooded figure standing behind them, an Oshawott perched on his shoulders. With an almost cocky grin, the boy stepped forward. "Did I scare you guys?" he snickered.

"Not at all," she responded smoothly before noticing the parchment in his hands. "Did you find any important information, my friend?"

He held out the paper. "Four guilds have been created so far. One's led by a dude named Green, another's led by some psychotic chick, and the other two are led by two men who seem interested in fire and water-types. Not much else to say...oh wait!" he paused, frowning, and then glanced up at her with a smile. "It might be interesting for you to know that some group of kids banded together recently, having been "reunited"? I don't know."

She nodded her head. "That's useful to know, perhaps they'll come to be useful. Anymore news?"

The boy frowned. "No, that's all I was able to gather. People aren't much willing to talk as much as when they first got here thanks to EHacker's little scare."

"Yeah, but it's understandable. After all, he did trap us inside of this world with the promise of inevitable death," the hooded figure sighed, scratching her Servine's chin. "Have you spotted any promising trainers, at least?"

"A couple," he held out a hand and counted his fingers. "Six, really. There's Green, although I highly doubt he'd trust us so easily. Red...but he seems really influenced by his leader so I guess that's not an option either. There's this guy named Silver, but he seems more of a jerk than anything. Oh, and don't forget _MissBlues_, she looks like a good trainer! Then there's a fifth guy, Gold, but he seems more interested in hanging out with that blue-haired chick. Lastly, there's that hyper boy that we met today...he seems like a good candidate too."

A childish smile appeared underneath the girl's hood at the name "hyper boy". "Yeah, he's always off with his friend though, so I can never get close. Moving on...I'll look into those six and see which are capable of joining us. But, until then, keep gathering more info on the new and upcoming guilds so we can plan."

He nodded. "Right, I'll be going now."

The boy took off down the alleyway and out of sight, leaving her behind. Sighing in frustration, the girl leaned against one of the dull gray walls of the buildings close to her.

"Looks like things are about to get more dramatic," she muttered.

**-End of Chapter Two-**

_Pokemon Virtual Reality MMORPG Manuel Guide Part Two:_

_Routes-unlike in the actual games, the various routes littered throughout the regions are made to be longer. So, if you were to travel across one with no Pokemon encounters, instead of taking thirty seconds to complete it, you might have to walk for about fifteen minutes before arriving in the next town. For this reason, it's important that you stock up on Poke Balls and Potions just in case you meet some nasty foes or get stuck in some uninviting spot._

_Wild Pokemon-even though the game is based on all five regions, the types of Pokemon that roam the area are different from those located in the game. For example, if you wandered onto Route 1 in the normal games, you'd come across only Pidgey or Rattata, right? But when you go into the grass on Route 1 in PVR, you're sure to find oddities like Natu or Shinx, Pokemon usually found in the Sinnoh and Johto regions. This means your teams can be filled with a wide variety of Pokemon early on, which can boost your chances of winning!_

_Guilds-in PVR, you have the option of teaming up with other players and taking on the tough challenge of grinding your Pokemon together. Guilds are basically provided to provide interaction between fellow Pokemon fans and improve the overall gameplay experience! However, guilds that band together for malicious causes like bullying other players or making it impossible for others to get to certain points, have the possibility of being banned depending on how bad they are acting. Moderators are the judges of each guild and are able to ban other guilds from existence if they see enough reason to shut one down._

**-Author's Note-**

**So, how did you guys like it? Was it good? Bad? Mysterious? Okay, so maybe not the latter, but it's nice to know how I did on this chapter.**

** Pokefan96-XD, thanks.**

** ForgotmyID-Mangaquestshipping is definitely the best (but it is my OTP, after all :D). And, yeah, I wished the Pokemon company came out with a game just like this (even if it does get screwed up and we're all unable to escape...), I'd buy it no matter what the cost!**

** FireMightyena-Psh, of course Crystal and Gold survive, they are the main pairing of the story and it'd kind of be sucky if they just met only for one of them to die right then and there (but who knows...). And, yeah, villains **_**have**_** to be smart or otherwise it'd kinda be weird to read about antagonists who make a lot of mistakes. **

** Silveriolu-I was also looking for a Pokespe/SAO story too and was quite disappointed that no one thought to do one yet so that's why this fanfic exists, interestingly enough :D. I'm glad that last chapter wasn't too long or anything because I sure though it was, so that's a relief to hear. **

**Thanks for all the reviews! It really nice to know how people like my story and what their thoughts are on it. **

**Oh, and the hooded figure? Expect to hear more about her soon, whether it be in her true form or hooded one, we'll meet with her again :D**

**-Stormyblaze**


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